Nine slams newspaper over “shameful” reports on Erin Molan and Sonia Kruger
Nine has slammed The Sunday Telegraph over the publication’s “sustained attack” on the network’s female presenters.
The defence of Nine stars came after the Sunday tabloid published an article claiming that a reshuffle at the network would see Georgie Gardner demoted into the Today Extra hosting role, and Sonia Kruger facing the axe.
Another article suggested that sports presenter Erin Molan has been “sidelined” by a “boys club” at the network amid an alleged feud with Andrew Johns. An online version of the article was later updated to inform that Molan had taken time off work for surgery on a broken shoulder.
A Nine spokesperson has denied the reports, saying “all of the talk is made up”.
“The sustained attack by The Sunday Telegraph on the female presenters of Nine is aimed to damage the standing of some of Australia’s most talented women in the media,” the spokesperson told The New Daily.
“Working mums Georgie Gardner, Erin Molan, Sonia Kruger and Deborah Knight are just some of the Nine women who are performing great roles across the business, yet have been targeted ina shameful onslaught of stories.”
This is the second time this year that Nine clashed with a News Corp tabloid. In February, Nine news and current affairs director Darren Wick criticised a Daily Telegraph report on Georgie Gardner as “one of the most deliberate acts of bullying I’ve ever seen”.
In response to the tabloid’s claims that Gardner was described by audience focus groups as “ice maiden” and “smiling assassin”, Wick said, “Nine’s position is that this is an outrageous, false, reckless and defamatory attack on Georgie Gardner and the Today show. The claim by the Daily Telegraph reporter that Nine has conducted focus groups this year is wrong.”